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Thousands gather at Place de la République in Paris for a spontaneous demonstration against the violent attack at satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper.

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In the wake of Paris deadly shooting at a satirical newspaper, thousands of people jammed Republique Square near the site of the shooting to honor the victims, holding aloft pens and papers reading 'Je suis Charlie' - 'I am Charlie.' (Jan. 7)(AP)

There were no speeches by politicians, just spontaneous cries of “Je suis Charlie!” Many people, braving the cold, symbolically brandished pens, in sympathy with the cartoonists and journalists who died in the attack. Others in the crowd held up back issues of Charlie Hebdo featuring controversial cartoons.

A group of youngsters clambered up the monument in the square and fixed a black cloth band to the arm of one of the statues.

A granddaughter of cartoonist Georges Wolinski, who was killed in the attack, was in the crowd. “Despite the pain in our family I wanted to come here,” said the 19-year-old student. “We want to demonstrate that the young people are showing solidarity.”

“I am crying,” said Christophe Alévêque, an actor and humorist who knew some of the victims. “We must not let this go, their work must continue.”

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Numerous political figures also attended the rally, which had reached 35,000 people by 9 p.m., a Paris police spokesman said.

People hold placards reading in French "I am Charlie" during a gathering at the Place de la République in Paris on Wednesday. (JOEL SAGET / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

“No words can express our anger,” said Olivier Besancenot, a far-left political leader. “We are here to show our sympathy with the victims’ families. We want to express their right to publish things we don’t always agree with.”

Cécile Duflot, a Green Party politician, said: “We are here to voice our outrage at what has happened. The subjects published by Charlie Hebdo need to be debated, it is necessary. Our democracy has been attacked.”

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo proposed that Charlie Hebdo “be adopted as a citizen of honour” by the city. “What we saw today was an attack on the values of our republic, Paris is a peaceful place. These cartoonists, writers and artists used their pens with a lot of humour to address sometimes awkward subjects and as such performed an essential function.”

But the crowd consisted mostly of ordinary people who were motivated by social media messages to attend the gathering.

“I saw a tweet about the attack,” said Michel Balter, a university professor. “I am shattered by what has happened.”

Retired teacher Agnes Quandalle said: “In the 1960s and ’70s, we grew up with those cartoonists . . . It feels as if those behind the attack want to kill us all.”

Spontaneous demonstrations also took place in other French cities, including Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Toulouse, and all over Europe.

French President François Hollande declared a national day of mourning for Thursday, and political parties called for a united mass demonstration in Paris next Saturday.

In Brussels, it was announced that a minute of silence would be held at the entrance of the International Press Centre at 11 a.m. on Thursday to remember the journalists who were killed.

Journalist Laurent de Boissieu started a Twitter campaign to commemorate the death of the two police officers who were killed in the attack. They have been named informally as Franck and Ahmed, a Muslim officer. One of them was on a bicycle patrol when he confronted the gunmen on Wednesday morning.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said a full list of the victims would be published shortly. Meanwhile psychological and medical support is being put in place to assist relatives.

Philippe Val, a former director of Charlie Hebdo, said he had lost all his friends in the massacre. “They were such lovely people who loved to provide pleasure and make people laugh. They were the best!” he said on France Inter radio.

Hadrien, a youth worker, said he was worried about the risk of inter-religious hatred. “It is important to be united,” he said. “I am worried about people who equate Muslims with ignorance.”

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